Netball New Zealand has advised Netball Centres around the country to postpone all training and competitions until Friday 14 August due to the change in COVID-19 alert levels.
Netball New Zealand’s advisory follows confirmation of community transmission of COVID-19 which has seen Auckland move into lockdown at Alert Level 3, and the rest of the country to Alert Level 2.
The change of alert levels means there is to be no organised netball activity in the Auckland Super City area as well as no training and competitions to take place from Wednesday to Friday (August 12-14).
NNZ has also advised Centres in the rest of the country to postpone all training and competitions during the same time period to allow them to prepare to return to play under the strict guidelines at Alert Level 2.
Centres will be required to follow the Ministry of Health guidelines which include having processes in place to meet all Government contact tracing, gatherings, health and sanitation and workplace requirements.
NNZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie said while Centres outside of Auckland could currently continue under Alert Level 2, the advisory to postpone now was to give them time to ensure they had an up-to-date Pandemic and COVID-19 Level 2 Event and Health and Safety Plan.
“The Level 2 guidelines aim to minimise the risk of transmissions of the virus and we want to make sure that our Centres can confidently meet those requirements,” she said.
“We understand it has been a challenging season but know that our netball community is resilient and will work through this next challenge.”
NNZ would be reassessing their next moves and what restrictions would follow on Friday after receiving more advice from the New Zealand Government and Ministry of Health.
Any advice to further postponements or cancellations will be advised on Friday by afternoon.
